Career in Banking - Public vs. Private Bank

Today banking has come to be one of the most sought after sectors to work with, not only in India but also worldwide. There was a sudden increase in the growth of private banks, post liberalization and thus this sector has more opportunities now more than over. In a country where the banking business seems to be flourishing, it comes as a surprise that more than 45 per cent of the people of India are still unbanked.
Ever since the establishment of the private and the public sector, there has been a never ending saga of which is better to work with. While both seem to have their own benefits and perks there are also several downfalls that come along with them. Well to be fair both the sectors have gone through a plethora of changes since their inception and being a part of the Indian economy.

Although a career in banking sector is lucrative both in the public as well as private banks but we are today going to compare the private and the public banks in terms of taking either one of them as a career. We can only compare as choosing which is better would depend on your abilities, choices, skills, aptitude and attitude.

Getting to know the vacancies

Chances are that a vacant position in a private bank is filled through campus recruitments, referrals, walk-ins or through consultants. Although private banks will advertise on their sites but a public notice is not necessary.

Public sector banks need to advertize the vacant position in the newspaper and need to make the position aware to the audience through a public notice. Also since Private Banks are not government owned, so they do not have any liability of category reservations which you will find in Public Banks.

Applying for the job

While getting into a private bank would invariably require a MBA degree along with having studying finance during graduation, in order to enter a public sector bank one needs to clear the common written/ aptitude tests which are held on a regular basis.

Recruitments

Candidates with a background in finance, commerce, and economics are preferred any day over others when it comes to recruitment in a private bank. Private Banks conduct their own aptitude tests, group discussions and personal interviews for recruiting. Most private banks will have their own personalized process for recruitment and mostly all selected candidates are subjected to a training period before actually joining.

On the other hand there is no other way but to appear and clear the common entrance tests in order to get through to a public sector bank. State Bank of India conducts its own common tests for recruitments where as the recruitment for the rest of the public sector banks are done through the IBPS common entrance test.

Pay Packages

The pay packages for both the public and private sector banks will most definitely depend on the nature of your job profile and the bank.

Where Public sector banks pay Rs 7,200 - 19,300 for and Clerks Rs 14,500 - 25,700 for PO posts. The pay scale is fixed for different scales and salary would increase as you get promoted to higher scale. Private Banks look for qualifications, experience knowledge of the candidate before fixing salary.

Promotion and growth

Promotion in the public sector is mostly slow and the growth in career stagnant but nothing can beat the security and stability of the job. Where the private sector banks offer a fast rate of growth and promotion, there is no saying how the companies react when there is slump in the market.

Private sector banks are very target oriented and performance based and if you are unable to meet targets then there is a chance of you losing your job. On the other hand, a Public sector bank will provide their employee’s considerable time to pick up and rarely is someone fired.

Perks

There are a lot of perks and emoluments in the banking sector regardless of the sector you are in. Even though private banking organizations have their very own rules and regulations but can be more flexible than public banks.

Private and public sector bank jobs for sure have their very own advantages and disadvantages but a person can prioritize his/ her needs, skills, preferences before choosing the type of bank he or she wants to work.